We often are slaves to our own minds.

 

We often are slaves to our own minds or desires.

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function." —F. Scott Fitzgerald, an American author (1896 - 1940)

He meant that one needs to keep an open mind, see both sides of an issue and retain the ability to make the choice.




In the beginning of the book: "The Lost Origins Of The Essay", John D'Agata, the editor, introduced the first essay: "The Dialogue of Pessimism". It is an ancient Mesopotamian dialogue between a master and his servant that expresses the futility of human action.

 In each of the first ten stanzas the master proposes a course of action, for which the slave provides good reasons. Each time, however, the master changes his mind and the slave provides equally good reasons for not pursuing that course of action.

Here is one of them:

"Slave!"
"Yes, my master. You called?"
"Maybe you should go to the stables and hitch up the horses. Instead of going to the palace, let’s just take a ride."
"Excellent idea, sir. A carefree mind always feeds a man’s body. Or, as my father often said: It’s the stray dog that finds the bone. The wise ones say that a migrating swallow will always built the best nest. And wild donkey will find the freshest grass in the desert."

"Huh? Forget it. I am not going anywhere."
"Well like I always say, sir: A wandering life is a dicey game. Stray dogs lose more teeth than domestics. The nests of migrating swallows fall easily out of trees. And the desert is the tomb of the donkey."

- Translated by Emily Dimasi -

Although the dialogue takes place between master and slave, I think it is actually taking place between master and master himself. The master makes his propositions, pro and con, and he speaks for himself.

We often are slaves to our own minds or desires.


Yeh Tze